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Tuesday, September 26

The specialized area of agricultural banking is important to the industry in Arkansas, and we're here to help you stay on top of current issues and changes affecting your customers. The Agricultural Banking track will provide both state and national perspectives to give you practical knowledge, growth strategies, and networking opportunities with Ag Bankers from across the state.

Who Attends: Ag Lenders, Ag Officers, Credit Managers and Analysts, Community Bank CEOs, and Bank Customers

9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
 Registration & Breakfast
9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. An Update from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture
Wes Ward, Arkansas Department of Agriculture

Secretary Ward will provide updates on current agricultural issues in the state as well as Department of Agriculture programs and activities.
10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. 5 C’s of Generational Continuity
Dave Specht, Global Family Business Institute, The Drucker School of Management

There is no magic recipe that will guarantee the preservation of family relationships and the perpetuation of a business. There are, however, five key items that if not planned for will almost assuredly lead to heartache, negative family dynamics and a poor chance at business succession. As you help your ag customers and consider all the technical elements that families need to address, please seek to humanize every step of the process. One of the greatest business legacies advisors can leave is a group of clients that are positioned to preserve their family relationships and perpetuate their businesses (if they choose to do so). This session will provide you with tools to encourage families to keep their most important family relationships in good working order as they transition from one generation to the next.

12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch

FINTECH Transformers: Rise of Primacy
Dave DeFazio, StrategyCorps
In the ever-transforming battle for customers/members, FinTechs seek to be the new rulers of the banking universe. And the tides have turned. From 2019 to 2022, digital banks have the largest growth rates of primary relationships. Now, for the first time ever, more consumers in the Gen Y and Gen Z age groups name a digital bank as their primary institution than all the community banks and credit unions combined!

During this keynote session, experience live demonstrations of the banking apps that are reimagining the definition of PFI as Primary Financial Interactions, instead of Primary Financial Institution, and changing consumer attitudes and banking behaviors.

1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

Arkansas Timber Resources and Response to Weather Events in 2023
Chandler Barton & Kyle Cunningham, Arkansas Department of Agriculture

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

 An Agricultural Update from Washington
Ed Elfmann, American Bankers Association

In this session, our expert speaker will give you an update on agricultural policy and other issues affecting bankers in Washington, D.C. He’ll provide you with insight on the priorities being pushed by bankers for the Farm Bill, the status of the ACRE Act, and what you can do to help advocate for policy that matters to you and your bank.
4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Hedge Accounts & Futures Contracts
Jared Knudson & Warren Norman, Hurley & Associates

During this informative session, we’ll learn the latest on hedge accounts and futures contracts.
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Networking Reception

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Chandler Barton Image

Chandler Barton
Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Division Forester

Chandler Barton lives in Little Rock, Arkansas and has been working for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Forestry Division since 2014. Having spent most of his career specializing in forest health programs, he has more recently focused on a broader range of forest management concerns, including water quality and urban forestry. As the Division Forester, he works closely with the State Forester on various high-level priorities for the agency. Chandler participates in and manages the funding that supports several forest management programs.

Kyle Cunningham Image

Kyle Cunningham, PhD, RF
Arkansas Department of Agriculture, State Forester

Kyle Cunningham is currently State Forester for the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, Forestry Division. Dr. Cunningham took this role in July 2023. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Cunningham worked as a Research and Extension Forester for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture for over 19 years. During his time in Arkansas, Dr. Cunningham has worked to provide sound forest management information to family forest landowners, industry, and natural resource professionals across the state and region.

Ed Elfmann Image

Ed Elfmann
American Bankers Association

Ed Elfmann serves as Senior Vice President of Agricultural and Rural Banking Policy for the American Bankers Association in Washington, D.C. ABA is the voice of the nation’s banking industry, and nearly 5,000 banks – 83 percent of all banks nationwide – have agricultural loans within their portfolio.

Elfmann has been with ABA since June 2012, and is ABA’s head of policy on agricultural and rural credit and lending issues. In addition to agricultural policy, Elfmann works on swaps and derivatives policy, financial services, and appropriations for ABA.

Elfmann currently serves on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Agricultural Markets Advisory Committee and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Agricultural Advisory Committee. In 2015, he was selected to participate in ABA’s Leaders at all Levels leadership program.

A central Minnesota native, Elfmann grew up on a dairy farm where his family still farms corn, soybeans, and steers, in addition to their grain trucking business. Prior to joining ABA, Elfmann was an agriculture and transportation policy advisor for a Congressman on the House Agriculture Committee. Additionally, he has worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the National Corn Growers Association.

Elfmann earned his master’s degree from the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. He earned his B.A. from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. Additionally, Elfmann is currently the President of the Agribusiness Club of Washington, D.C.

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Jared Knudson
Hurley & Associates

Jared Knudson grew up in Eastern South Dakota and has spent his entire 20+ year career in Agriculture since graduating from SDSU. He spent the first 12 years of his career within the John Deere organization – both on the company side and with two privately held dealerships in a leadership capacity. Jared joined Hurley & Associates in 2013 as a consultant and transitioned into his current role in 2020. He is responsible for leading our retail operations and enjoys being a coach and strategist within the organization. While he misses the opportunity to work directly with producers, he enjoys the challenge of raising the bar on our level of service to improve the partnership we have with those we serve.

Warren Norman Image

Warren Norman
Hurley & Associates

Warren was raised on a family farm in Western Kentucky where he developed an appreciation for agriculture. While growing up, his passion for agriculture grew deeper through his participation in 4-H, internships, and summer work at Beck’s Hybrids and Windimere Farms.

Warren attended Murray State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture with an emphasis in Marketing and Management. Warren joins the Hurley & Associates team in Charleston, Missouri as a Farm Marketing Consultant after completing their internship program.

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Secretary Wes Ward
Arkansas Department of Agriculture

Wes Ward is serving as the 3rd Secretary of Agriculture for the State of Arkansas. He was first appointed to the position in 2015 by Governor Asa Hutchinson and reappointed in 2023 by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Wes is from the small town of Lake City in Northeast Arkansas and is a graduate of Riverside High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business with an emphasis in Agricultural Finance from Arkansas State University. Wes has also earned a law degree (JD), a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in Agricultural and Food Law, and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas.

Wes has been serving in the United States Marine Corps for over 22 years and has completed deployments and exercises in Afghanistan, Jordan, and Japan. He is currently serving in the Marine Corps Reserves as a Detachment Commander with the 1st Civil Affairs Group in Camp Pendleton, California.

The Arkansas Department of Agriculture includes the Forestry Division, Livestock and Poultry Division, Natural Resources Division, and Plant Industries Division. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the development and implementation of policies and programs for Arkansas agriculture, forestry, and natural resources to keep its farmers and ranchers competitive in national and international markets while conserving natural resources and ensuring safe food, fiber, and forest products for the citizens of the state and nation.

Dave Specht Image

Dave Specht
Global Family Business Institute, The Drucker School of Management

Dave Specht is a Washington-based writer, keynote speaker, and strategy consultant to generational family-owned businesses throughout the United States including family-owned farms and ranches. He was a lecturer at The University of Nebraska and is best known for his creation of the Inspired Questions- For Family Business mobile app and the GenerationalBusiness360 process. He is the creator of the mobile app, Inspired Questions-For Farmers, and the Generational Business 360 process.